making new friends one paw at a time

Baseball: Jonathan Papelbon signed the largest deal for a closer eligible for arbritration, one year, $6.25 million...Others signing on the dotted line included the Pirates's Adam LaRoche who agreed to a one year, $7.05 million contract (what?!!??!! He only plays like 3 months out of the season), the Mets's Ryan Church ($2.8 million) and Angel Pagan ($575,000), the Yankees Xavier Nady ($6.55 million) and Melky Cabrera ($1.4 million), the Mariners's Erik Bedard ($7.75 million) and the Dodger's Russell Martin ($3.9 million)...Speaking of arbitration, Ryan Howard is asking for $18 million (and worth every penny when you consider how little he was making in 2005-07), Prince Fielder wants $8 million, Dan Uggla and the Marlins have hit and impass as well as the Nats and Ryan Zimmerman...Albert Pujols's elbow is doing fine.



Basketball: The Jazz were able to pull away from the T'Wolves, 112-107...Tim Duncan knocked down 27 points as the Spurs dismantled the Pacers, 99-81...The Pistons are thinking about using Richard Hamliton off the bench.
(Photo: Getty Images)

College Basketball: #2 Duke topped NC State, 73-56...Now you can't even say hi to people. Yikes!...The Stanford athletic department is thinking about making some cuts.

Football: Stephen Ross has purchased 95% of the Miami Dolphins from Wayne Huizenga...And don't worry Dolphins fans, Bill Parcels is staying on...Hines Ward is expected to play in the Super Bowl...Colts defensive coordinator Ron Meeks has resigned...Could football be coming back to LA?...And does Chicago really need two NFL teams?...Sad news, Hall of Famer Dante "Gluefingers" Lavelli has passed away at the age of 85.

Hockey: Scott Gomez broke up a 2-2 tie with his first power play goal of the season and Blair Betts added an empty netter as the Rangers bested the Ducks, 4-2...The Sharks celebrated Claude Lemieux's first NHL game since 2003 with a 2-1 OT win...Ray Whitney and Eric Staal tallied goals as the Hurricanes edged the Penguins, 2-1...The Kings broke their four game slide with a 5-2 victory over the Wild...Meanwhile the Coyotes made it five wins in a row with their 6-3 rout of the Wings...Rick DiPietro's knee is just not healing properly so the Islanders have shut him down.

Best of the Rest: Roger Federer only needed 86 minutes to advance to the third round of the Aussie Open. Click here for the rest of the results...Target is moving over from the #41 car to the #42 car driven by Juan Pablo Montoya...The real Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will be revealed in a commercial set to air during the Daytona 500. Sporting News went behind the scenes. Click here for the interview.

Check this out: If you watched the Inaugural Ball you were treated to Michelle Obama's stunning Jason Wu gown. But while Michelle's dress was absolutely stunning, some other first ladies didn't quite hit it out of the park in their inaugural finest. (Hillary Clinton I'm talking to you.) Check out this gallery to see the hits and misses of first ladies past.